8.18 - The biological pump in the past
8.18 - The biological pump in the past
The ocean's ‘biological pump’ refers to the coupled biological, chemical, and physical processes that work to concentrate carbon and other biologically active elements in the voluminous ocean interior, sequestering them from the surface ocean and the atmosphere. Current research seeks to understand the relationship of the ocean's biological pump to the Earth's environmental, chemical, and climatic history. Changes in the efficiency of the biological pump are central to most current hypotheses for the cause of the coherent variations of atmospheric CO2 over the ice age climate cycles (i.e., glacial vs. interglacial stages). Here, we review the concepts, tools, and observations relating to this topic. While the biological pump is driven by biological activity in the sunlit surface ocean, its global efficiency is shown to be affected by the ocean's physical circulation, and its net effect on atmospheric CO2 is shown to work through the ocean's acid–base chemistry. We integrate these findings into a proposed recipe for the major dynamics driving CO2 change over the past 800 000 years.
biological pump, carbon cycle, carbonate pump, glacial/interglacial cycles, soft-tissue pump
978-0-08-043751-4
485-517
Hain, M.P.
d31486bc-c473-4c34-a814-c0834640876c
Sigman, D.M.
84ca0cf1-decc-4133-b104-4fc3ee751721
Haug, G.H.
39dd0949-c65e-4f26-ad5f-41ddb5bafadb
2014
Hain, M.P.
d31486bc-c473-4c34-a814-c0834640876c
Sigman, D.M.
84ca0cf1-decc-4133-b104-4fc3ee751721
Haug, G.H.
39dd0949-c65e-4f26-ad5f-41ddb5bafadb
Hain, M.P., Sigman, D.M. and Haug, G.H.
(2014)
8.18 - The biological pump in the past.
In,
Treatise on Geochemistry (Second Edition). Volume 8: The Oceans and Marine Geochemistry.
Amsterdam, NL.
Elsevier, .
(doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00618-5).
Record type:
Book Section
Abstract
The ocean's ‘biological pump’ refers to the coupled biological, chemical, and physical processes that work to concentrate carbon and other biologically active elements in the voluminous ocean interior, sequestering them from the surface ocean and the atmosphere. Current research seeks to understand the relationship of the ocean's biological pump to the Earth's environmental, chemical, and climatic history. Changes in the efficiency of the biological pump are central to most current hypotheses for the cause of the coherent variations of atmospheric CO2 over the ice age climate cycles (i.e., glacial vs. interglacial stages). Here, we review the concepts, tools, and observations relating to this topic. While the biological pump is driven by biological activity in the sunlit surface ocean, its global efficiency is shown to be affected by the ocean's physical circulation, and its net effect on atmospheric CO2 is shown to work through the ocean's acid–base chemistry. We integrate these findings into a proposed recipe for the major dynamics driving CO2 change over the past 800 000 years.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 6 November 2013
Published date: 2014
Additional Information:
This article is a revision of the previous edition article by D. M. Sigman and G. H. Haug, volume 6, pp. 491–528, © 2003, Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords:
biological pump, carbon cycle, carbonate pump, glacial/interglacial cycles, soft-tissue pump
Organisations:
Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 358630
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/358630
ISBN: 978-0-08-043751-4
PURE UUID: b48bc706-6546-400d-889c-dbd14dfafc6d
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Date deposited: 09 Oct 2013 13:50
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 15:06
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Author:
D.M. Sigman
Author:
G.H. Haug
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